Civil and Environmental Engineering
Informatics: Two Case Studies
Dr. Adel Sadek
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and
Department of Computer Science
Date:
Time:
Location: 367 Votey
Abstract
In recent years, the Civil and Environmental Engineering profession has been undergoing some significant changes. Throughout the profession, there is now an increased awareness of the critical need for sustainability and environmental protection. Within the Transportation sector, for example, there has been a major shift from construction to better management. Information technology is now widely used in all aspects of the profession. These changes are introducing new problems that require new tools and solution methodologies. In this presentation, we show how Artificial Intelligence (AI) paradigms are used to help address some of these challenges. Specifically, we utilize AI paradigms in developing decision support systems for two challenging Civil and Environmental Engineering problems. The first problem focuses on the design of phytoremediation strategies, which involve the use of vegetation for the treatment of contaminated soils, sediments, and water. Because of the complexity of phytoremediation systems, standardized design equations do not exist at the current time. The second problem we consider involves deriving land use limits from infrastructure capacity. The goal here is to determine how much development a given transportation system can sustain, before traffic congestion starts to occur. Lessons learned from the application of AI paradigms to these problems are discussed.